Little Secrets
by Gomboc123
Summary: A look at how a complete stranger would perceive the relationship between Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye. Going under edit/rewrite soon.
1. Chapter 1

A/N So the first time I posted this, the formatting was completely screwed up. The problem should be fixed now, so I hope everyone can enjoy!

The doorway to the bar opens, forcing a chilly breeze to travel to where you are seated. A small bell on the door rings, alerting the bartender. A plump woman, with a cigarette constantly between her lips immediately starts pouring a whiskey for the man that has entered. They must know eachother. You've been to this bar a couple times before, but have never seen this dark haired gentleman.

The man sits down on an empty stool, and starts chatting with the woman on the other side, who has already delivered the whiskey to his seat. It isn't loud enough for you to hear very well, but the bartender calls something into the open doorway behind her. Another woman, who is younger and wears a tight dress with a deep neckline that shows off her breasts bounds out, and hugs the man. You still cant hear very well due to all the other customers chatting, but it sounds like she squeals, "Raaaaayy!" He smiles back at her, and she sits down in the stool to his left. A few seconds later, some more women, dressed similarly to the first, run out and hug "Ray". He smiles, sipping his whiskey, and rattles off hello to what is presumably a long list of names.

The girls all either sit or crowd around him, not bothering about how close they get to either Ray or the others. They laugh, meddle with Ray's scarf, and a couple even go as far as stealing sips of his dwindling whiskey. Many times, the women whisper things into his ear, and he smirks or looks shocked. Ray, meanwhile seems to relish the attention. His lips are drawn into a practiced smirk, and his black eyes shine whilst laughing along with the plethora of women throwing then selves at him. Don't they realize that Ray is using all of them? They can't possibly all think that they have a chance. The more Ray's smug, confident mouth opens to speak, the more you hate the cocky asshole. Who the hell does he think he is?

You look down at your half-finished beer, and the paperwork you brought with you to finish filling out. Ray's been wasting your time too. Not wanting to have to work at home, where your heating is broken, you turn to the small stack of papers that suddenly seemed to have multiplied in the time you were distracted. Hopefully your remaining half-pint can get you through the rest of this.

You begin to write down numbers and figures, filling your papers with dull, useless - seeming knowledge. Why do people care so much about such small, insignificant business details? It didn't matter. You get irritated at your irrational boss, and find your eyes wandering to Ray. He's still entertaining the crowd of oblivious women with a smirk on his face.

You don't know why, but looking at the scene in front of you unfold piques your interest. The simple strangeness of Ray and the women surrounding him seemed like a scene specifically designed to be looked at. Most men were not such obvious and public womanizers.

The bartender steps closer to Ray, and they start talking again. He had finished his drink, and she takes his glass away. Once she comes back with the bill, she smirks at seeing the annoyed look on his face. She holds her hand out, and he begrudgingly hands her some crisp bills. If he ordered so much, of course it would cost a lot. He can't expect everyone to give him special treatment. He then begins to say goodbye to all the girls, one by one. Strange, considering how none of them were going with him after all the drinking and flirting they had done.

Ray walks towards the door, towards you, and you hear the bartender shout to him in her gravelly voice. "Next time don't even expect me to give you half-off, Roy-boy!" Oh, so his name is Roy.

"Come on, Aunt Chris, give me break! Haven't I been kind to you in the past?" Aunt? Roy's Xingese looks don't resemble the bartender's at all. But that relation does explain why the two were so friendly.

"Have fun on your date." Another date?

"Ha ha." The dry, sarcastic laugh escapes Roy, "I hope you know that she and I actually have to get back to the office now to finish paperwork due at midnight. Like I would date her..." this next scathing comment comes out of his mouth as he rolls his eyes, pushes the door open, and looks over to a figure leaning on the outside wall of the bar. Another woman. One you guess Roy doesn't even like very much. So that's why he drank and flirted here. He can't with the one in the dark coat outside.

His face breaks into a smile as he steps next to her, and she pushes off of the wall. She starts walking away, and Roy begins walking next to her, close enough to see that they're walking with eachother, but far enough away that at most, they seem like coworkers. In fact, the woman seems like she wants to be as far away from Roy as she can without being too rude. Roy doesn't seem to be getting any closer either. Definitely coworkers.

Their backs grow smaller, and disappear behind a corner. You turn back to the pile of papers sitting in front of you. Now that the distraction is gone, you can get get something done.

By the time you leave the bar, it's almost 11:00. It's become even colder outside, and you wish you'd've brought gloves.

But despite the temperature, it's still a beautiful night, so you decide to take a walk. With that new plan in mind, you head toward the center of the city, hoping to see the giant fountain that's been decorated for the winter solstice.

You get there after a 10 minute walk, and once you reach the popular square which hauser the fountain, you quickly buy a hot cinnamon pastry, warming your hands up and providing a nice scent that almost covers that of the water.

Speaking of the fountain, that is the next place you head towards, instantly in awe of the shimmering blue lights adorning the dragon sculpture in the middle. The dragon spews water out of it's mouth, but the way the colored lights had been rigged behind it, the dragon looks like it it's spitting out fire. In the pool of the fountain, the lights on the bottom change color from purple to green, and then to blue.

All around are happy couples and artists sketching or painting the scene. You see one pair sharing a cinnamon pastry much like the one in your hand, and another who lean against eachother, looking warm and about to fall asleep.

You sit down on the edge of the fountain pool, and take in the scene. You smile at the sight of all the different couples, and you eat the sweet spiral of dough that's been warming your hands. It truly is a lovely night, you think maybe you should work outside of home more often for things like this.

You're almost finished eating when you hear a familiar voice and turn around.

"Keep your eyes closed. I told you this was a surprise," He's here again. Roy and his mystery coworker. They walk on your right towards the fountain.

"I know where we are, sir. I can hear the fountain and the festive music on the radio," The woman next to Roy says curtly, with her eyes closed and one hand holding his gloved one; still at such a distance that they could seem like close friends. Roy meanwhile, is staring at her with an excited grin on his face, looking like he wanted to step closer to the aloof woman.

"Come on, Riza. I promise you that this will be amazing," Roy tells her, now looking at the fountain they were about 10 feet away from. He stops walking. "Open."  
Riza openw her eyes, blinks, and then drops his hand to put hers over her gasping mouth. She laughs, and runs closer to the water, her black trench coat billowing behind her. She then spins around, taking in her surroundings, a new smile appearing on her face, making her look 10 years younger.

"They look so beautiful! I... didn't know they lit them up yet!"

"You mentioned that you'd never seen them before, so I decided to finally show you now that we're back in Central," Roy grins, and his lopsided smile matches Riza's in terms of how evident his joy is.

"I think I mentioned that _once_ in Ishval. And you remembered after all these years?" _Ishval?_

"You mentioned it twice actually. The time in Ishval, and once when we were teenagers," Roy and Riza now look completely different than they had before. The way they look into each others' eyes now is a stark contrast from the way they seemed to hate eachother earlier.

"I can't believe you would remember something as small as this," Riza brushes her bangs out of her eyes, then begins to faintly blush as she wraps her scarf around her tighter. Roy walks up to her, and takes both of her hands in his. Riza steps back, the smile melting off of her face.

"This is wrong." She breaks away and turns back towards the fountain, folding her arms around her. In an instant, the distance returns between them.

"Riza, there's nobody around paying any attention to us. Besides, even if they were, we don't know any of them," Roy steps beside Riza, trying to peer into her eyes with a reassuring look. Riza's gaze remains in the fountain pool in front of them.

"It's not alright, _Colonel_. If we even look like we're interested in each other, your reputation could be ruined and one of us would be court marshaled," you can barely hear Riza now, as her voice had dropped to almost a whisper.

"It's been a long time since we've been serving together. I think you deserve at least one happy moment," Roy replies, nudging Riza's shoulder so she'll look at him. The earnest smile had returned to his face, and his dark eyes reflected the blue lights. Riza turns her head towards Roy, but at the angle at which you were sitting, all you can see is her long blonde hair secured at the back of her head by a clip.

"Sir, I can't do this with-" Riza begins, but is cut off by Roy grabbing her hand.

"Riza, we have been through so much together. Too much. There have been so many perfect nights like this ruined by people who don't want us to be together. Your father, the military, hell, even ourselves. I have known you for fifteen years, Riza. Half of my lifetime and over half of yours. All of those nights, those 'almost' moments need to amount to something. I am damn tired of keeping quiet, keeping everything pent up inside. I know how I feel about you Riza, and I think I can read you well enough to know how you feel about me. Nobody here knows us. We're off duty at this hour. I think you deserve at least a little happiness. Just trust me, Riza." Riza doesn't move. She keeps looking at Roy, who now has a determined, resolute look on his face. While his smile had disappeared, his obsidian eyes shining bright with passion. Without smiling, Roy still looks at her like she is everything. The intensity of his gaze proves that he and Riza weren't just coworkers.

It seemed as though minutes pass before Riza pulls Roy into a tight embrace. He looks stunned, but soon hugs Riza back, and smiles. They stay like that for at least one minute, until Riza pulls away.

"Thank you for tonight, sir. I'm glad we were able to complete the paperwork in a timely enough fashion for a walk," Riza salutes Roy, and he awkwardly salutes her back.

"Me too, Riza," Roy replies, and seems to reach for her hand, before seeing her put both of hers into the pockets of her military trench coat, signaling that she didn't want to touch him.

How did she do a complete 180 that fast? "Bye Riza."

"Goodbye, Colonel Mustang." Riza turns away from Roy, and you see her expression. Her face doesn't seem expressionless, as it had before. Instead, she looks like she's holding back tears, and she walks briskly past you.

Roy looks crestfallen, and he puts his gloved hands in his own pockets before turning around and walking in the opposite direction as Riza.

So the two _are_ coworkers? In the military? If so, then you aren't surprised that Riza's trying to stay out of a relationship. Just the other day in the paper, there was an article about how a second lieutenant got fired for an elicit affair with one of his superiors.

It seems like Roy and Riza obviously care about each other, so maybe Riza's doing them both a favor by letting Roy down easy.

After the couple has departed, you realize that the only reason you stayed glued on your seat was watching the couple like some sort of dramatic picture show. While you did feel a twinge of guilt in your chest for doing so, the couple _was acting like one in a drama_.

You take the bag your now - eaten pastry used to be in, and you throw it in the trash bin as you walk out of the square and towards your apartment. You have work tomorrow so you shouldn't have stayed out so late anyways.


	2. Chapter 2

_two weeks later_

As you make your usual commute to work, you hear shots ring out from the next street over.

A scream fill the air, which causes you to run over to where the commotion is to see what's happening.

As you reach the next street, a crowd is already starting to form around two people in the street. There is a man holding a struggling teenage boy at gunpoint, yelling obscenities at the onlookers.

"WHERE ARE THOSE MILITARY BASTARDS NOW? COME OUT, YOU FUCKING COWARDS!" The criminal with the gun tightens his hold on the boy, who is now clawing at the arm around his neck and thrashing more violently than before.

"BETTER SHOW UP SOON OR ELSE THIS LITTLE BOY IS GONNA GET A BULLET IN HIS HEAD!" the man cocks his pistol and presses the muzzle against the side of the boy's head, letting it become almost hidden by the boy's thick black hair.

"COME ON, I FUCKIN' DARE YOU!"

The boy screames again, causing hushed whispers to spread through the crowd. *I hope the military shows up soon* *isn't this the Flame alchemist's sector?* *why isn't anyone doing anything?*

The man waits, and after seeing no military personnel, clicks the safety off of his gun. The boy shrieks and tried to move his head away from the pistol, but the criminal keeps it pressed firmly there.

"THREE," some people in the crowd next to you cover their eyes. Oh god. He's actually going to do it. This lunatic is actually going to kill a little boy. Your stomach churns at the thought of seeing someone's brain being blown out.

"TWO," you close your eyes. This is too much. He can't do this. *he can't do this* The adrenaline coursing through you middles your thoughts. He can't do this.

"ONE," a shot rings out in the street. You hear a cry, and a body thuds to the ground. Your stomach churns at the thought of seeing a bloody corpse, and you keep your eyes firmly closed. But almost immediately after the thud, people in the crowd start cheering. Cheering?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" You hear a new voice say, and snap your eyes open. It sounds familiar. Where have you heard his voice before?

A man in a striking blue military uniform steps out into the open. From your viewpoint, you see the criminal on the ground, scrambling to pick his gun up with one hand. The other is gushing blood.

"So you finally showed up, Colonel," he snarls, and stands back up with his weapon. Another shot rings out, but this time it hits the criminal in the knee. But the alchemist in the street isn't even holding a gun.

A blonde woman steps next to the colonel with a rifle, and whispers something into his ear. So she must be the shooter.

"Stand down. It's over now," the Colonel says, and turns to the blonde woman so she can give him a pair of handcuffs. She hands the cuffs over, expressionless and still holding onto her gun.

The Colonel walks over to the criminal, and begins restraining him, getting blood all over the white glove on one of his hands. They both stand up, the colonel helping the criminal to stand on his shot - out kneecap. The woman's eyes scan the crowd, and she begins clearing a path though to where a car has pulled up to the curb.

"Everyone please move," she repeats, and gestures for people to get back. The Colonel supports the hobbling criminal as they move in the cleared path. The injured would-be shooter looks at the parting crowd to his left, while the colonel looks ahead. The blonde woman slings the sniper rifle across her back, and exchanges it for a black pistol.

You feel people pushing into you as they step back, but manage to retain your viewpoint of the situation. You can clearly see the expressions on everyone's faces as they move the criminal into the car, and close the door. Your heart keeps pounding in your chest, and you take deeper breaths in order to calm yourself down. It's over now. You can stop worrying.

It's over. The past few minutes for you seemed like they were hours. Wait- only a couple of minutes? A deadly hostage situation taken care of in only a short matter of minutes? This has so far been the most insane experience in your entire life, and it was resolved in a matter of minutes? Was that even possible?

The woman walks to the Colonel, and seeing the two standing together, you could swear you've seen them before. Where? This is the first time you've been even minorly involved anything like this. You've only ever seen soldiers patrolling around Central command, and in this he newspapers. Remembering two distinct soldiers seems unlikely, unless, have you met them at a party outside of uniform? Maybe they were at your cousin's solstice party. Your cousin knows some military guys.

The woman's eyes glance over the crowd once more, and she narrows them, frowning, at a spot directly to your right. You see motion from a larger man, subtle enough that it would be covered by the rest of the crowd in front. A strange feeling in your gut causes you to step aside, just in time for the man next to you to make his swift move.

In an instant, the blonde woman jumps onto the Colonel, tackling him to the ground. A second later, a gunshot comes from the man to your right, going through the billowing fabric of the woman's uniform. The people in the crowd realize what happened, and everyone scrambles to get away. You get away, and quickly look back to the scene unfolding.

"Stay down Colonel," the woman says, ad she quickly regains her footing, now holding two pistols.

"Lieutenant!" The Colonel screams, and tries to make his way to her side. She puts her foot in front of him, and keeps her guns trained on the shooter.

"Colonel, put your gloves on and stay behind me," the Lieutenant replies in an authoritative voice, not even looking down at the man behind her. The Colonel ' expression turns to steel, and he quickly slips on another white glove; one not stained with blood. He stands and walks next to the Lieutenant. Her eyes flick over to his, and he gives a slight nod.

Why would he put on fancy gloves at this point? It would honestly be more useful if he had a gun like his adjunct. Many of the thoughts running through your mind now involve the notion that this woman is most likely the only reason the colonel is alive.

The criminal and the Lieutenant remain in their standoff, neither completely willing to shoot until they're sure the other's gun won't also be killing anyone. "What now, Colonel? Your little secretary and I can't do this all day," The criminal mocks.

The Colonel's expression goes from steely to fiery. "Don't insult my Lieutenant." The man's voice is hoarse, and he raises his gloved hand.

"Colonel, stay calm," the Lieutenant replies in a warning tone, without taking her eyes. Her superior narrows his already slim eyes at the lone gunman in the alley.

"Oh ho ho. Colonel's got a sensitive spot, then? Is she just a secretary, or is she a girlfriend too then?" The criminal tans further, causing the colonel clenched his jaw, and moves his hand further up, aiming it as if it was a gun. Was this guy insane?

"You wouldn't do that, Colonel. There are too many people who could get hurt," the criminal says, trying to keep the same taunting expression; but you see his lips twitch downward. He's scared of something. What can't you see here that everyone else can?

"Don't test me." The Colonel's hard expression remains, and he brings his other hand up in front of him, "I'm giving you one last chance to give this up and come along with us quietly. If you refuse, I'm afraid it won't be too pleasant for you." The harsh words coming out of the Colonel's mouth match his cold expression, sending chills down your spine. That was a clear threat, one that the colonel would no doubt follow up on.

"Sorry, but no thanks," the gunman points his gun down, and fires a shot, quickly followed by the Lieutenant, who crumpled to the ground, clutching her thigh.

The gunman clutches his chest briefly, before ripping his shirt open to check on the bulletproof vest underneath. He looks at the Lieutenant trying to stop the flow of blood, and he frowns, "How the fuck did I miss two shots in a row?" He raises his pistol again, training it on the colonel this time, "I guess this time's a charm."

Before he has a chance to fire, a snap resounds through the alley, closely followed by a massive orange ball of fire. The criminal becomes engulfed in an instant, dropping his gun. But as soon as it happened, the flames are gone and the heat leaves your face. The Colonel snaps again, and a circle of flames surrounds the charred, gasping man now crumpled on the street.

Was this alchemy? How did this state alchemist just snap and produce flames? And the amount of control the colonel had over his fire was astounding. There was not a single flame out of place. All doubts about this man you held in your mind before are gone. He wasn't crazy. He was scary, and you shudder at the thought of being on the receiving end of his alchemy, like the shooter had been.

"Now maybe you'll have the sense to stay quiet and complicit until we get an ambulance down to escort you to the prison," the Colonel walks over to the whimpering, charred lowlife in the center of the Flame circle, " I told you not to do anything to my Lieutenant."

The criminal gasps for air, wheezing out as he attempts to speak, "Colonel... R... roy... mustang..." he begins struggling to sit up, "f.. fuck... you." He manages to get his back off of the ground, and whirls around towards the colonel.

Another gunshot sounds out, and the criminal drops the weapon you didn't realize he had reclaimed. The Lieutenant grips her pistol, her hands stained crimson like the growing puddle beneath her leg. She drops the gun, and goes back to clutching her thigh.

The Colonel runs over to his subordinate, and kneels down next to her with a scared and panicked look on his face, not caring about the puddle of blood staining his uniform.

"Riza! Riza, don't worry. There's got to be an ambulance on the way for you. You'll be okay," The Colonel's expression softens to one of worried concern, and you realize where you've seen the two officers before.

This was Roy and Riza. The two lovers who you saw at the fountain. The ones who seemed so passionate about each other, but would always stay apart due to rules and regulations. Visions of their emotional night flash through your mind, and you have a hard time comparing them to the stoic soldiers they were today. Roy had legitimately scared you with his power and fury, but that night at the bar he seemed like just another dumb womanizer. And Riza, who you saw wonderstruck and happy at the fountain, shooting two men and even taking a shot herself. It was almost like the two had a switch they could flip that would make them seem like real people or military machines.

"I'm fine, Colonel, you need to worry about yourself. Are you hurt," Riza wheezes, reaching her hand out toward him.

"Ri- Lieutenant, you were just shot. Stop worrying about me. You take priority right now," Roy looks into her eyes, "Let me help with your wound." He takes his hands beneath her thigh, and Riza winces.

"Make sure the shooter doesn't pick his gun up again," Riza commands, her voice still light, "I might have more than one bullet go through me if you don't."

Roy's concerned expression remains for a few more seconds, until he sighs and let go of her. Roy walks over to the bleeding shooter, and stays there, occasionally stealing a glance the Riza. These two really did have to be careful about the fraternization law, because if any superiors saw them like this, they would be put on trial for sure.

The crowd surrounding the scene doesn't dissipate until two ambulances come to load the injured patients in. More soldiers come, and order everyone to leave as they begin to fence off the crime scene.

One pushes you away, and you steal one more glance at roy climbing into the ambulance with his lieutenant. As you walk away, you try to organize your thoughts regarding the couple. The way the two acted today was no doubt a show of their affections and how smoothly they work together. You think about what might happen to the two as you arrive at your work building.

But as soon as you walk in, thoughts of the couple dissipate in favor of what you're going to tell your boss, and how dull your workday is going to be. You frown, but then remember that you know a secret that nobody else does. One that may help you get through your banal day and keep your sanity around your boss. Even if the secret may not cause anyone else happiness, you find delight in knowing about the relationship between Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye.


End file.
